The Tale Of a Failed Shinobi
by LordIbtou
Summary: Because of his damaged chakra system, naruto was neglected over his sister, the kyuubi jinchuriki, by his parents. Unaware of his potential and dubbed the Failure Ninja by the people around him, he encounters the third Hokage. The encounter changes Naruto's life as he strives to become a strong ninja with his vaste gained knowledge and the old man's aid.
1. Chapter 1

**Itachi is younger than canon in this story.**

 **Naruto is slightly older than his normal age.**

 **Naruto and Itachi are close friends.**

 **Naruto is smart, a lot smarter than normal, because he fills his free time with reading ( fuinjutsu books, anatomy, biology, chakra control... anything) It's odd, isn't it ?**

 **Prologue:**

What is a family?

The first thing that comes to mind with the word family, is Love, care, eternal happiness. It has been said that Family, is where all the dreams begin and where people hearts lay. It's considered a gift, a blessing.

At least that's what naruto learned from stories.

The reality he was living in, however, was nowhere near. His parents were there, alive. Yet, he couldn't remember one single moment he laughed with them, nor could he remember one time they treated him like a child. Their child.

His mind could only recall the endless memories of neglect and disregard.

Despite the ignorance he was treated with, for some reason, naruto couldn't hate his family, his heart prevented him from that. He wanted to prove himself, to show them his worth. He'd make them care for him.

But, that couldn't mean he didn't carry some anger at his parents demeanor. He sometimes, couldn't even tolerate their presence.

He was staring out of his bedroom window, his golden hair glowing under the rays of the late evening sun that passed from his window's glass. His eyes which he inherited from his father shined like a gem, showing the charm of his deep blue eyes. Placing his hands on his cheeks, he looked down at the world as it ran it's course.

His father's face on the Hokage monument was visible from here. Looking at the fourth sculpture and how much resemblance he had for the man, he hated his looks. And, it was not a thoughtless hate for those looks. People of the village, also disregarded him, calling him a failure compared to his father, the yellow flash. Some even gone to the extent of calling him a disgrace, someone who isn't worth carrying the name, nor the looks of the legendary ninja.

How many times naruto came back home crying because of that, yet his parents didn't offer him any consolence, they seemed to have the same mind as the stupid people of the village.

There was only one person in the house that cared for him …

"Onii-chan, come on it's time for dinner." The door opened, and some small footsteps were heard from the doors. It was his little sister, the kyubi jinchuriki. She had blood red hair, and blue eyes. She looked exactly like her mother. She was beautiful, so young, yet so majestic, or so naruto always thought.

Despite that she was one of the two reasons his parents, didn't care about him, naruto couldn't hate his little sister. He was jealous. True, but he couldn't hate her, just like he couldn't hate his parents. His little sister was the only one that was concerned with his presence in the house, she was 3-year-old yet she noticed the distance between him and their parents, and she worked to fill the lack of kindness, naruto was feeling. She was trying and naruto appreciated that… a lot.

No, naruto didn't hate his sister, he absolutely adored her. He could remember several times when he was crying, when he was hurt by the villagers' words, his sister would enter his room and try to comfort him. She would bring some tissues with her and try to wipe the tears off his cheeks. 'Please don't cry, Onii-chan'. She would say. And naruto could notice every single time that her eyes would be moist too, as if she is holding back her own tears. And that alone would make him stop, all of his sadness in that day would drift away, and he could truly smile… genuinely, it was always enough to make him happy.

"Huh, it's dinner time, already?" As usual, his parents didn't even bother to 'invite' him for dinner, and Nao, his sister, had to. He'd bet that if he actually decided to have dinner with them, he'd find his plate empty, with no food left, if they remembered to put his plate on the table in the first place. And again, his sister would help him, she would literally feed him sometimes, or share half of her food with him, while his parents would continue on with their excuses.

They would find excuses for everything, from locking him outside, to forgetting to buy him new clothes that would fit him, to not having enough time to pass with him. Yet, they would find time to pass with Nao. Meanwhile, Naruto would pass time, reading books, that's what he'd do constantly. He read thousands of books, more than he could count. And he grew fond of reading. He felt as the book was his eternal friend. These books, this library was with him since he was four, since his sister's birth. He read stories about legendary ninjas, and others about imaginary tales. He learned a lot about chakra and chakra control. He even was successful in reading and mastering some of the early stages of seals.

Seals… The art of Fuinjutsu was hard and dangerous. He felt so happy when he was able to learn his first ever seal. He had no help, nor assistance. His parents didn't even know, and he was not going to tell them, it's not like they'd care.

"Onii-chan, Are you okay? You're not crying! Are you?" He was lost in thoughts, that he didn't notice his little sister sitting next to him. He flashed her a small smile, glancing away from the window and looking at his sister.

"No, don't worry, Hime, I'm not!" He felt his little sister grip on him, as she hugged him slightly. He hugged back, lovely.

She broke the hug, after several minutes and ran toward the door.

"Come on Onii-chan." She said looking back at him.

"Sorry, Nao, I'm not going to stay here tonight, I'm going to Jiji's house." He shook his head.

"But why onii-chan?"

"I missed him and I figured I could pass some time with him" He was talking about Hiruzen Sarutobi, the third Hokage, he was one of the few people that cared about naruto. He knew everything about him, even his vaste knowledge in fuinjutsu.

* * *

"How's things going with asuma-nii, Jiji. You mentionned last time that you've had a disagrement." Naruto said, setting aside his empty plate and looking at the third hokage seriously.

"Things didn't get better, it only got worse. His anger just intensified after seeing his sister crying one night." Hiruzen replied with a sip of his hot cup of leaf tea, his face sporting a rueful expression as his eyes clenched shut, careful as to not show his raging emotions.

"I see." Naruto replied griefly."But you have to understand where he's coming from. He's just sad for his little sister. Poor her, losing her husband like that, and pregnant with his child no less."

Hiruzen sighed deeply-a hollow sound that sent a chill up the boy's spine-taking another sip of his tea."Takechi was so passionate about his job and protecting the village. He just recently got his promotion for the rank of jonin, he kept on bestering for an A-ranked mission, like a genin. 'I have to provide for my family' he said, he didn't want to live of the sarutobi fortune, his pride didn't allow him. He was an amazing man that one, I couldn't choose any better person for my daughter, but I wasted his life by giving him that mission. Your father was on vacation that time and I had to take care of his duties for him." He took another sip of his tea before releasing another sigh. Tea was like alcohol to him, as strange as that might sound, tea calmed his mind, and made him think straight. It made him forget his pain, even for a bit.

"It's not your fault, Jiji. You've done nothing wrong ! Takechi-nii-"

"Indeed, I didn't. As much as I regret sending him on that mission, and as much as I feel sorry for Ohana and konohamaru, Takechi died protecting the king, that's what Asuma doesn't understand. It's an honor, even if it should not be for people as young as him, certainly not for people as young as the old team 7 as well."

Naruto face saddened at the mention of the pretty girl and the nice boy of team 7, he only remember bits and pieces of, but it was quickly washed away when a question was raised in his mind.

"Protecting the king ? I thought Takechi-nii died taking out a threat to the safety of konoha ! This group of most powerful samurais or whatever." Naruto asked, confusedly.

"Naruto, who is the king, here in konoha ?" Asked the professor, mysteriously.

"Dad ? Since he's the hokage and all ?" Replied the blond hesitantly, not quite sure if that's the response the hokage wanted.

"That's not it, Naruto. Think about it." When Naruto tried to answer again, Hiruzen stopped him by holding up his hand in the air." Give it some thought and give me your response later." Naruto nodded.

After a few minutes of silence, Naruto decided to talk.

"So the baby's name is Konohamaru, huh ?"

Hiruzen hummed in confirmation.

"What a beautiful name."

"His father chose it, and we all agreed on it. He's gonna be named konohamaru. If it's a boy that is."

"Good choice, then."

* * *

"You wasted your chance at graduating for me, huh?" Said Naruto to the boy sitting next to him, glancing at him through a sideway, somewhat angry gaze.

"So what ? I'm still young for graduation, anyway. Besides, It's not like I was sure to graduate one hundred percent."The black haired boy shrugged, his arms crossed in front of his chest and his eyes closed, as if he was mediating.

"Don't give me that bullshit !"Naruto snorted, throwing his head backward, resting it on his hands."If you took the exam, you would've made it your bitch along with any teammates you would've been paired with." He released a long sigh before shifting his gaze to the other boy. "Look, Itachi. If you're gonna wait for me, you're probably gonna regret it, later. You know that I can't even make a single clone. Hell, I can't even do henge." And it was true, for some reason that even Tsunade of the sanin, the world renowed medic couldn't grasp, Naruto's chakra coils has been damaged beyond repair.

He was allowed to enter the academy with difficulty because of his disability. He has always been the deadlast, yet he didn't give up. He'd find a way.

"So what ? You deserve that graduation more than anybody here, you're more skilled than everybody in this room, except me." He pointed out, giving the blonde a small smirk.

"W-What?"

"Don't give me that bullshit." Itachi mocked, opening one eye, showing the smallest glimmer of amusement."You would've made any student here your bitch if you're paired together in a fight."

"I don't know what to say to that." Asked Naruto.

"You give yourself way less credit than you deserve Naruto. I've known you for two years now and you've never dissapointed me in spars or in any other subject we talked about. It's good to have someone that thinks the same you do to share your thoughts."

"Thank you very much, Itachi, that means a lot." He smiled brightly.

"So what are you reading ? A book about seals ?" Itachi asked, his voice serene.

"Mhm..." Naruto let out a sound of approval, puling out a book about seals. He opened it and started reading as itachi examined the seals inscriped on the papers.

"That's pretty advanced stuff you're reading there" He remarked.

"What do you think I am ? A noob ?"

"Is that considered an insult ?" Itachi rolled his eyes, glaring at the genin aspirant.

"You can consider it whatever you want, big boy !" He teased.

"Me, the almighty and Elite Itachi Uchiha gets unsulted by a brat like you. the end is near."

"May I remind you that you're not that much older than me ?"

Itachi just grunted.

"Oh, be careful ! you're starting to sound a lot like your clan." Naruto warmed.

"That's a bad thing ?"

"Definetly."

.

.

.

"Hey Itachi."

"Hn ?"

"You remember Takechi-nii, the one I talked to you about ? He died on a mission. Ohana-nee is pregnant with his child. I don't know why I'm saying this but... it made me so sad, he's such a good man. He didn't have to die."

Itachi looked at Naruto, his expression grim. He remembered something his mother said to him after shishui's parents died.

"Naruto, when you're in a garden, which flowers do you pick ?"

"The most beautiful ones." He replied, unstantly understanding what Itachi meant.

'A life passed away, a new one is going to be born.' The uchiha thought.

* * *

 **Omake : Siblings love**

The attraction park was enormous and so full of people, Naruto and Nao looked around in awe, as their eyes drifted from side to side as they gawked at the sheer sise of the numerous buildings and platforms. They walked hand in hand, their parents walking right behind them smiling at the pair.

They were in the capital of the land of fire, the place most inhabited and the biggest city in the country

"Nao, do you like the park ?" Minato asked lovingly, as he lifted Nao in his hand.

Naruto scowled at losing the feeling of warmth in his hand while Nao giggled excitedly as her father lifted her in his arms.

"It's amazwing, daddy." She said cutely.

Kushina squealed in delight at her daughter tone.

"You're so cute Nao-chan." She said happily, taking her into her hands.

Nao continued giggling happily.

* * *

The day at the park was amusing and awesome, even naruto passed an amazing day with his sister playing at the different chakra-powered-games, laughing and joking with each others.

"Hey kids, It's time to get home, let's go !" Called Kushina.

"But mommy, I wan tha toy." Complained Nao, pointing to a booth of very advanced kunai-throwing game with a price of a biig Bear plush toy.

"We have no time for that, dear, It's getting late. We can't wait for our turn to play, there's a lot of people playing."

"But, mooom."

"No buts ! Maybe another time Nao-chan. Now let's go !" Kushina said as she picked Nao up.

* * *

"Alright, kushina ! I'm gonna use the flying raijin now." Warned Minato.

"Waiit, where Oni-chan ? He's not here." Said Nao.

"Where's Naruto ? Have you seen him Minato ?" Asked Kushina.

"No, where might he be ? Did he get lost ? Anyway, we'll return home, I'll send someone to get him, or maybe I'll return for him myself later."

 **"** Noooo, we're not leaving withou Oni-chan. Let me down ! I'll go look for him. You go home, we'll get home together later." Her eyes were moist, and she was barely holding her tears as she started to walk on her own despite how tired she was, kushina and minato following after her.

The park was huge, so for a 4 year old to go in and walk around everywhere looking for someone sounded like a marathon, and despite how tired she felt, along with the fear of getting lost herself, Nao still didn't go back in her decision to find her brother.

She didn't have to look for long as the figure of her brother welcomed her after a few steps forward.

"Onii-chan ! where have you been ?" She asked, hugging him immediately when she saw him.

"Calm down, Hime, Calm down !" He consoled."Sorry for taking so much. I just got you a souvenir to keep from our journey here." He grinned.

When she looked at him expectantly, Naruto pulled a red bear plush toy from behind his back.

"This is the toy you wanted, right ? Don't worry, I didn't steal it, I won it."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 :**

Naruto panted as he sat next to an older man. The male wore a proud smile on his face, offering naruto a bottle of water. He and the young boy just finished training and he was pleased to say that naruto was progressing rather quickly.

Teaching the boy was fun, and passing hours tutoring the blond was rewarding. It made him feel that satisfaction he left long ago. The pride, the joy of teaching, the satisfaction of seeing your student blossom into a powerful and legendary ninja. Only with Naruto, it was much harder, and that only seemed to make even more satisfactory.

"Good job, Naruto! Your taijutsu is really strong for your age, so is your bojutsu skills. It's really rare to see somene so young yet so skilled at these fields." He praised, giving the blonde a large, warm smile. A kind of smile that naruto would hardly see a few times, and roughly, only on the old man's face.

"It is thanks to you, Jiji. I wouldn't be half as skilled if it weren't for you." Replied Naruto, giving his own toothy grin. He made his surrogate grandfather proud, that's all that counted for him.

Hiruzen Sarutobi chuckled, ruffling the child's hair."Always the humble little boy, I see but I have to say it is all your consistence and hardwork. All I do is give you pointers and such." He pointed out as naruto enjoyed the third's grip, it was great to be treated like a child."Nothing too much, you're like the sannin in that sense, especially Jiraiya, you picks up fast." He added nostalgically.

Naruto's face perked at the praise and his eyes shone with delight like two suns. He looked like the happiest man on earth.

Hiruzen compared him to the sannin. HIM. That meant he can be as good as the sannin.

And he couldn't even graduate from the academy.

"Do you think I will be able to graduate, Jiji?" Naruto broke the silence that reigned, his voice was calm and low. It came barely a whisper. Yet, the exprienced hokage could hear it perfectly the doubts cast upon his tone clear, the fears of failures and the uncertainty of his abilities apparant in his eyes.

He shrugged. "Do you think you can graduate ?" He asked simply, surprising Naruto who replied with a shake of the head.

The third hokage expected that, so he had to boost the boy's confidence.

"I don't see a reason why not!" He replied calmly, he didn't bother to look at the boy to figure out what he was thinking, he knew him for too long."You're skilled enough to be a gennin, your knowledge is also astonishing. There's no reason for you to fail. And even if you couldn't get what you want this year. You'll be able to do it next year, you still have time, you don't have to rush things."

Naruto, still didn't seem convinced, he stared at the ground, his hands clenched in anger as he remained silent for several minutes. His mouth openning and closing several times, as his mind tried to come up with something to say. but, The words would die in his mouth before finding it's way out.

Hiruzen was the one to talk again, he noticed that the blonde was frustrated and his thoughts were vague. He was clearly in no condition to talk, so it was the old man responsibility to get the conversation moving and get naruto back to his usual self. He hated to see the boy depressed and sad, it wasn't something he was used to seing in the boy's face despite the unfair childhood he had. Yet, every time he found him in this state, he couldn't help but feel guilty for some reason, like he could've done something even when it was impossible to act. And this was one of those moments. His heart was melting, seing the boy so troubled.

"I know you don't want to hold your friend back from graduating, but it's his choice, he wanted to wait for you, you didn't make him. And you'll probably do the same." He sighed."And just so you know, you really wouldn't need chakra to pass the exam." The look of surprise the boy gave him was the only indication he needed to continue.

"I know someone who was able to graduate using only taijutsu. He had no skills in neither ninjutsu nor genjutsu, yet, he was remarkable, he didn't accept to give up and I was impressed by his willpower and determination, and so I allowed him to graduate. And I can see the same resolve in your eyes every time you talk about becoming a great ninja and protecting the village. You can become a great ninja like him. One of Konoha's best. You have that brain of yours by your side after all."

"That's Kakashi-nii 'Eternal rival' Maito gai, right?" He said, his voice just as calm as the first time but his features seemed to relax a bit and his usual warm aura seemed to radiate like before. The third hokage, was surprised that the boy recognised one of the best jonins. He shouldn't be, god knows what other information he has.

"That makes things a lot easier." He shouted happily. "But Jiji, you said something that I couldn't help but feel uneasy at." The boy paused a bit, rubbing his right temple, thinking of his next words."You said you made the choice of letting him graduate, and you were the hokage, so it means that the current Hokage would be the one deciding whether I pass or not, right ?"He mumbled, his voice wasn't filled with hatred or anything but distate was clear when the boy mentionned his father.

Naruto was always like that, he always paid attention to every single detail without overlooking the main speech. It was something the third hokage didn't know if he should be happy about or curse the interest in details the boy had.

Even if he knew the fourth hokage actions were wrong and injustified, Hiruzen still felt the need to stand for his friend, even if for so little. He grapped Naruto's attention and said."You shouldn't say something like that, Naruto. You know that he wouldn't do something as preventing you from graduating. Your parents doesn't hate you Naruto, they just don't know what are they doing to you, the villagers words, your little flaws and your little sister birth, blinded them, they don't realise they're hurting you." His lips curved into a playful smile and he continued."Just if you could see how they treated you before your sister's birth, you were actually a spoiled little kid." He chuckled as Naruto blushed a bit.

"You just have to get that care and love you had, back, Isn't that what you want? What your father would think will be the complete opposite of what _you_ think. He'd be proud that you were able to overcome his low expectations. And maybe then you'll get what you were after. Even if it's a small fragment of your desire. And even if he refused to grant you passage, I'll knock some sense into him." He watched as the usual grin slowly loomed into Naruto's face and enthusiastic attitude took back it's place as he decided to trust Hiruzen words.

He almost missed this happy boy he got used to.

"So where's Asuma-nii ? Is he on a mission." Naruto asked a bit later, having missed the younger Sarutobi.

"He's having a meeting with the daimyo as we speak. He's joining the twelve ninja guardians soon, they're just discussing the job details." Hiruzen said dreadfully.

* * *

There they were, as always laughing and joking with each other, they seemed to enjoy themselves, naruto could tell. How much he wanted to find a way to fit in with them, but he'd wait, it's not that he'll wait for long. He'd have to be patient. Yet, his heart couldn't bear the sadness of finding himself out of that perfect family he supposedly belonged to.

He just watched, he watched as his father ruffled his daughter's hair, he watched as his mother hugged her, and watched as his little sister enjoyed her time, but constantly turned to look at him him. He would flash her a small forced smile. He tried to give her the illusion that he was alright, that he just wasn't in the mood to join them. That was the only reason that his sister hadn't stop whatever they were doing to stay with him.

His father seemed to give Nao a demonstration of chakra, he molded his chakra, he performed some low-level jutsus and walked up and down the tree. They never displayed something like this to him, but again he had no chakra, why would they show him what chakra do.

But, wasn't Nao a bit young to start her training ? A lot younger than needed. He was afraid of her getting hurt training, but he couldn't contradict his parents. He'd have to trust them to keep her safe.

"Look Nao, this is one of your father legendary technique... Ras..."

"Rasengan... I wish I could do something like that." Naruto finished Minato's statement. He made sure that no one heard him. He watched the blue sphere in his father's hand in fascination as he thought what he could do with something like that. If only he had chakra. Oh, the things he could do with it, he would've been so powerful.

And that brang him back to the topic in hand...

'...And to this day, the extent of the art of fuinjustsu possibilities and power isn't fully known. What kind of uncovered secrets this art have? Is it true that with seals nothing is impossible?' The blonde read the book on his hand, he was surprised to see that the writer was his father himself.

'Is it true that with seals nothing is impossible?' The words repeated in his head, it was a good question with an unclear answer. Could he gain what he want with seals?

The idea of a kickass taijutsu user with some kickass seals didn't sound that bad.

* * *

Naruto sat on his usual seat at the back of the classroom, humming a little tune quitly to himself as he waited for the teached to come, trying to fill the void his friend left. It was a song his sister always sang. And it stuck to his mind. He personaly preferred listening to her while she sang it with her soft, little voice. But, that didn't stop him from enjoying chanting it himself.

He glanced at his friend's emty seat besides him with a bored sigh. Itachi was late, later than usual, something itachi wasn't used to. He didn't make people wait, always making as early as possible. What is wrong with him, making him wait like this ?

"Haaa..." His sigh dissapeared in the class chatters. He's probably overthinking it. Itachi probably overslept. As strange as it is to think about. Seeing his every day attitude, Itachi seemed to be one of those who goes to bed early and wake up early, totally unlike him.

He still couldn't deny how boring it was without the stoic Boy around. He actually felt lonely, despite the crowd in the room.

It wasn't too much longer that Itachi made his appearence in the class. Naruto groaned at the excited screams and squeals released the moment Itachi stepped into the room, it was so ... cringy.

He raised his head from where it was laying on the table, his eyes narrowing at the bondages covering some parts of his friend's face completly contradicting the happy expression he wore on his face.

"Naruto, guess what ?." Itachi smiled broadly, leaving the blond no time to respond as he spoke quickly."I unlocked my sharingan !" He pointed at his now, red blood eyes; one tomoe in one eye and two in the other.

"Congratulation." Naruto said just as happily, wrapping Itachi in a one-handed hug as he wore a large foxy grin, before pulling back his grin contorting an upset frown as he looked over at Itachi worriedly."But, what happened, how did you activate it ?" He asked, his voice dreadful. Itachi told him before of the way to activate the sharingan, and he knew it was stressful.

"You had to stop me from enjoying this moment, huh?" Deadpanned Itachi in slight annoyance despite the slight feeling of warmth in his chest knowing that his friend was worried about him. He took a seat next to the blond in silence not bothering to respond, preffering to let it slide, but naruto's expecting look forced him to speak.

He sighed deeply and said."Let's just say I unlocked it during a harsh training with my father, he happened to be angry that time, and it pushed me to awaken my sharingan." He half-lied, it was true that it was indeed during a training with his father, but the story had more to it than. He rathered not thinking about the events, yet it repeated in his mind again.

 _'Stand up, Itachi, show me you're as strong as you think, show me that another year at the academy wouldn't affect your strength, show me that you don't need training under a jonin.' His father shouted, looking at the panting little boy on the ground with his 3 tomoed sharingan._

 _Itachi tried to climb up to his feet, but his legs gave up on him. He heard his father snort before saying."That's what happens when you pass time with failures, you dissapoint me itachi ! I never took you to be this weak! Or is hanging around losers like the hokage elder made you a failure like him ? Someone like you shouldn't be hanging around such disgrace. Someone who's shaming the hokage's name by his very existence. He's nothing but a bad influence on you.'_

 _His hands clenched tightly and his teeth clutched, he tried to keep control his inner anger. His father was surprised when itachi raised his head, revealing something highly unexpected; the sharingan._

 _'Don't you talk about him, like that'. His voice was malicious, and the look in his eyes was intense and scary. Even the uchiha's clan head found himself shaking a bit under his son's glare, as he hastilly raised his hand to guard against the upcoming punch, that came to him as a blur.'You don't know the first thing about him.' And Fugaku had to defend against another well-placed punch.'He's not a failure.' A high kick sailed through the air toward the older Uchiha face which was stopped before impact by him using both of his hands.'Nor is he a disgrace.' Another kick nailed him in the other side of his face making him stagger backward, shocked as Itachi jumped back in an acrobat move._

 _'He's not diminiching my potential, he's helping me reach it. And most of all, I feel comfortable around him, I'm myself when when I am with him.' He said leaving the training ground._

 _He turned around several feet away and said 'He's not a failure at all.'_

Looking at his friend, he knew that he didn't believe that, but he also knew that he was not gonna push on it. Naruto knew when to be quiet and when to push on for answers and that was a quality Itachi appreciated in him.

* * *

It was a long time ago since he last had some free time to enjoy himself, and even more longer time since he played any of his pranks, and he felt this day was the perfect day to enjoy his long time hoppy. His birthday...

Hanging a rope from atop the hokage monument, Naruto added his touch to each face carved into the large hill. No one could deny that it added some beauty to the old worn out sculptures. Every design was choosen carefully and each color used was meant to define that particuliar hokage.

It was a masterpiece... Naruto thought.

But it seemed that not everyone was on the same mind, or so they declared.

"Get down from there, do it you-" The chunin didn't get to finish as naruto jumped over his shoulder and ran away from him.

"Get him, quickly!" Shouted another chunin as he himself started pursuing the hokage troublesome son in the streets.

Naruto passed by hundreds of villagers, turning this way, and evading that way. He passed by a smirking third hokage, and Itachi, who shook his head exasperatedly.

Naruto runaway, was stopped, when he found his father in front of him in the street, not finding any other way, he halted and prepared to be scolded. That's what his father usually did.

Minato looked at his son with a somewhat angry glare, but he was impresed that naruto was able to evade some chunin and jonin ninjas.

Grabbing his hand, firmly but kindly, he decided to speak about it in his office.

The blonde, flinched at the grip, but quickly relaxed and enjoyed this moment, he'd do anything to make it last for ever.

Naruto sat in his father's couch, placed in his office. He remained silent as his father worked on completing the mountains of paperworks that occupied the entire room. He was surprised by the sheer number of papers surrounding him. He never imagined seing a room filled with this much papers. And it was probably because, it was the first time he's been in this office, at least that's what he's aware of. The room was unfamiliar ...

Nao was here, several times, Naruto could recall several conversations where she kept on praising the red hokage tower, but Naruto couldn't find anything that may catch the eye in the ordinary office. It was a simple empty room with a simple looking desk in front of a simple looking window, nothing worth noting, and anything but fancy for a position like the hokage.

His opinion was completly different from his sister's own. It was probably because of his little relative desire to be the first female hokage. She wanted to be like her father. Yet, Naruto greatly wanted to avoid being like his father. He was afraid that if he went the same path as him, he would end up doing the same sins Minato did, he was afraid that he'll ignore one of his children like that. It was something Naruto was even afraid to think about.

And even though, Naruto now knew that it was a stupid thinking, he couldn't help but stick with the theory he made 2 years ago. The only reason he didn't hate the position of hokage with passion, was his Jiji being the third hokage. Unstead, Naruto wanted to become a great ninja one that would protect Konoha from the shadows, someone like the anbu, or even better, the sannin.

"Uhh, one less pile of paperwork to think about". He heard his father mutter, stretching like an old man. Naruto was actually impressed by the speed of which Minato used to complete that pile. Looks like his insane speed wasn't only used in battles.

He narrowed his eyes, his gaze showing the immense annoyance he was feeling from the next words that came from the hokage. "Naruto, You're still here ? Don't you have something to do ?"

"Trust me, I wouldn't want to stay here. I was waiting for you to send me out, after giving me a lecture about 'not polluting the environment'.".He spat out. He was extremely angry and Minato could see that, but he couldn't think of the reason why he would be, so he just sighed, looking at his son with a stern look .

"Why did you do that to the Hokage monument.".

"It was fun." He replied simply. But that wasn't the real reason, he didn't do it just for shits and giggles.

"You know, you should stop messing around and start paying attention to your studies if you wanna have the slightest of chances of graduation. Your mother and I already dissaprove of your choice of career, don't make us regret letting you go to the academy everyday."

Naruto snorted, chuckling darkly.

"Is that worry I hear ? That's funny. You never even glanced my way and now you pretend you care."

"Tell you something ?" Said Naruto as he moved to the exit. He looked back at his father as his hand opened the wooden door."I am both better and worse than you think. Even i have limited patience and It's running low." He added, leaving the office leaving Minato behind ; trying and failing to understand what naruto meant with his words.

* * *

He was angry...Furious, and sad. He actually had hopes for this day, he thought he'd be remembered at least for a second, yet like every previous birthdays, he was forgotten. He felt his blood boil when he saw the trio leave, through his room window.

He felt his blood boil as he remembered his conversation with his father.

He had some good expectation for this day... and it came crashing down in the end.

He should've known better.

He had nothing to do now but go to his Jiji's house like he did almost every day.

Reaching a hand to his doorknob, he noticed something on his desk, something that he haden't seen before. He was not the one to put it there. But his parents never entered his room and that could mean one thing...

Reaching the desk, he found a little necklace laying in wait, a little paper laying alongside it. It was his sister mediocre writing, but again she just started learning how to write, wich was also young for her age if you ask him.

Naruto could remember several days ago, when his sister asked about his birthday, and now he knew what she was scheming. He just couldn't understand how the little girl keep surprising him, yet It makes him happy everytime.

He raised the necklace along with the paper in his hand. The necklace was made of one small golden heart shaped piece with the word brother engarved on it, bound with another, bigger silver Crescent. The sentence 'I love you to the moon and back'.

"Brother, I love you to the moon and back." Naruto Repeated the statement, as joy weilded up in his hurt used heart and couldn't contain the happy, joyful chuckle that escaped his mouth.

'Big Brother, I know it's your birthday today, so happy birthday ! I just want to apologise if I stole all our parents attention, and I don't know what to do ! I didn't want this to happen. Please don't hate me. For the best brother in the world.'

Naruto felt a mix of happiness and sadness at the words, and looking at the paper, he could see some tear marks. His sister was crying too. She was feeling guilty, and Naruto didn't want her to be, he had to talk to her about this and thank her.

At least one person hadn't forgotten about him, he shouldn't had any doubts that his sister would. Likd she never did. This gift wasn't just a simple gift, it was something that would be saved in his mind and protected by his heart.

He hugged the necklace tightly to his chest and swore to never forget this moment.

* * *

Naruto didn't think this day would be any better, since he got his sister gift, he considered this day a perfect birthday, at least, that was his opinion...

The third hokage opinion, was completly different. Apparently he helped Nao get Naruto's gift, yet he didn't seem like wanting to end the day, without throwing a birthday party to Naruto's immense surprise.

There was a lot of people there, people to celebrate his birthday, people to share his joy and offer him gifts. He didn't know what to think, he wasn't used to this.

He could recognise a couple of people or so, he could see Itachi smirking at him, the same usual smirk, it made him roll his eyes, his friend never showed much emotions. Besides him was his friend shisui, and his mother, carrying his little brother. He could see Asuma, the third's son. Kakashi, his father's student. Maito guy... Iruka, someone he met through the third hokage, they got along well, but he still couldn't consider him one of his precious people.

This day was perfect.

If just his parents were a part of it.

He wished.

"Thank you... Thank you very much." He mumbled, cutting the massive cake in the table.

His eyes were moist, it drew smiles on everyone's faces.

And naruto grinned, getting a bite of the cake.

"Something just got into my eyes." He said, wiping away the lone tear that slipped it's way down his cheek.

A large collective chuckle rang through the room.

* * *

 **Sorry it took to long to update ; I was kind of busy this week and I didn't have the time.**

 **I hope you like this chapter and I would appreciate it if you reviewed ; You know the deal : give the cons and pros of this story, tell me what is wrong with the story and what should be done.**


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